Miracle On 34th Street

(George Seaton, US 1947, 96 min., 35mm)

A Christmas movie that begins on Thanksgiving. The real Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) replaces the drunken Macy’s version in their annual Thanksgiving day parade, and then fills in at the store as children come to sit on his lap. The children seem to have a sense that he is the real Santa Clause, but Macy’s employee Doris (Maureen O’Hara), disillusioned by a bad marriage, is distressed by the effect he has been having on her daughter, Susan (Natalie Wood). Next-door neighbor Fred (John Payne), a lawyer, comes to Kris’s defense and ultimately represents him in a suit to prove that he is not insane. Combining the magic of movie romance with the magic of the holidays, this film argues that faith is a necessary aspect in life, whether dealing with other humans or believing in a jolly man in a red suit.

Also playing on Thursday, December 3